


Morning Brilliance

by afteriwake



Series: Where Speech Ends [17]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2015-06-30
Packaged: 2018-04-06 21:32:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4237401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The end of the chase is nearly in sight, and on the morning of the final confrontation Molly slips back to a childhood routine, watching the stars fade from the sky as the morning dawns. This particular morning, however, she has some company as the sun rises.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Morning Brilliance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [horrorfangirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/horrorfangirl/gifts).



> And the international intrigue is almost over! Yeah, I know there wasn't much, I apologize. Anyway, this song, “If I Lose Myself Tonight (Original/Acoustic Mashup)” by OneRepublic, is actually mashed together by SongMasher, who has a few other mash-ups I like, and I adore it. Also, have you noticed the theme of tons and tons of violins in these songs yet?

**What's your most vivid childhood memory?**

It was only a few hours until it would all be finished. All the headache and heartache and misery that Moriarty had caused, it would be over tonight if things went according to plan. She hadn't even originally been part of the plan, mostly because Sherlock insisted he wanted to keep her safe and that meant keeping her away from the confrontation, but when they'd finally cracked the last few clues Sherlock had found and realized the full extent of Moriarty's plans that wasn't going to be an option. Moriarty wanted her to pay for her hand in all of it, and since she and Sherlock were romantically attached her punishment was supposed to be a painful and tortured death because that would hurt Sherlock the most. Sherlock had said it would be a cold day in Hell before that happened, and she felt the same way about it.

He'd attached himself to her hip, as much as he could, and while normally she would hate the invasion of her personal space in this case she welcomed it. He would turn the world upside down to make sure nothing happened to her, she knew this deep down. He'd already nearly had to do that, taking her on a hunt that crisscrossed the globe. But tonight it would all be over and they could go back home, back to whatever life had in store for them. Back to her job at St. Bart's and his job as a consulting detective, she supposed. Back to life shuttling between her home and his, the two places that felt like home to her. Back to normalcy. And while she ached for that she was also afraid that this had changed her too much to settle back home. But at least she wouldn't go through it alone. She knew he would be there too. Probably for the rest of her life, even if they hadn't talked about that much, about exactly what their future together would consist of. But she knew whatever it was, it would last a long time.

He was still asleep, surprisingly. Normally he was up before the sun, fingertips playing on her skin. He admitted he was trying to learn every inch of her, every divot in her skin and curve of her body. She didn't need to ask why because she did the same thing, trying to memorize the feel of his muscles and the taste of his skin. If the worst happened, if one of them lost the other, then they would have them burned deep into their memory. They would always be there in some way even if they weren't physically there. Neither of them wanted to think the worst but they prepared for it anyway. But as much as she wanted to lay in bed and keep him close she just couldn't, not today.

She slowly and carefully got out of bed, trying not to wake him up. She had been used to rising before the sun for as long as she could remember, long before it was required for university or medical rotations or her post. As a child she had always gone to her window and watched as the stars slowly disappeared from the sky when it wasn't cloudy. More often than not she was disappointed, but sometimes things would work out in her favor and she would see the early morning rays of light make the night sky lighter and lighter until her Mum called her down for breakfast. It had been her own special routine, her comforting start to the day. The one thing they had been told when they got the room at the Hotel dei Capitani was that the view of the sunrise was spectacular, and if the worst happened to her she wanted the chance to watch one last sunrise.

Her dressing gown was draped on top of her suitcase and she slipped it on, covering her bare skin. Ever since the first time they slept together after being intimate she found she preferred sleeping in the buff, or at most with just her knickers on. Tom had always insisted she put pyjamas on before they went to bed, but Sherlock actually welcomed her sleeping in as little clothing as possible, doing the same himself. Even considering the morning they had woken up to find Mycroft standing at the foot of their hotel room in Edinburgh it was their preference. She knew when they got home she would be insisting they lock the door of whichever bedroom they happened to be in for the night even though she knew Mycroft could just pick it open anyway.

She smoothed the silk down, relishing the feel of it before she tied the sash at her waist. This dressing gown had been a gift from Sherlock the first morning they were in Tokyo, after Molly realized she had forgotten to pack her old one in the rush to get out of the hotel in Seoul and back on Moriarty's trail. He'd slipped out of bed while she was still asleep and it had been one of the first things she saw when she finally woke up. It was made of a vibrant sapphire blue silk and cut almost like a kimono, and it was embroidered with a beautiful scene of a woman and a nine-tailed fox spirit in a garden. It did little to keep her warm but it was beautiful beyond compare and she treasured it. Quite honestly it was one of the most beautiful gifts she had ever been given.

After a moment she picked up the one thing Sherlock made sure was always in his carry-on, the one thing he made sure they never left behind no matter how quickly they had to pack and move along to the next place. She hadn't completely understood why he kept this particular model iPod; it had been years old already by the time she had bought it, and there wasn't any reason he couldn't upgrade like she'd had to do when he stole it from her. Plus it was a bright pink, which she thought would be a major turn-off in him wanting to keep it. But he wouldn't part with it. He said that it had been one of the few things he'd kept close after he faked his death, and so she assumed it was one of the few things he had sentimental value attached to. If it was important to him, though, then by all means it was important to her. 

She turned it on and put the earbud headphones in her ears as she moved over to the balcony doors. It was still dark out, but there was some lightness in the distance. She could see silhouettes of the Tuscan hills but mostly she concentrated on the horizon where the beginning of the morning was peeking through. She probably would have enjoyed watching this with a cup of coffee, the good, strong coffee the Italians preferred, but then she worried she would be so wired that when this was all over it would be impossible to sleep. So she made do with opening the doors and moving onto the balcony, enjoying the brisk air against her skin, listening to song after song as the sun came up, occasionally singing along. It truly was a brilliant sunrise, she realized. She was glad she had gotten out to watch it.

She had been listening to an acoustic cover of a song that she had sung along to softly since she knew the rather simple lyrics well when she thought she heard movement in the room. If Sherlock was awake chances were he would get out of bed and join her shortly, so she simply waited and concentrated on the song that started when the cover had ended. It was one Sherlock had added on his own to the music player, she realized after a few seconds, because while she recognized the lyrics she didn't recognize the song itself. He'd been quite impressed with some of the mashups she had on her own iPod and so he must have found more. This one was actually quite nice, she realized as the song started to change into the chorus and she began to sing along. “You can feel the light start to tremble, washing what you know out to sea. You can see your life out of the window tonight,” she sang softly as the balcony doors opened behind her.

“If I lose myself tonight, it'll be by your side,” she heard from behind her, and she turned to see Sherlock there, leaning on the doorjamb. He'd put his trousers on but other than that he was not clothed. She gave him a small smile and motioned for him to join her. He did, and while she hoped he'd continue to sing he missed the next line. It was extremely rare that she got to hear him sing, even though he had an absolutely lovely voice. He tended to prefer to hear her sing than sing himself. She turned back to look at the view as he came up behind her, putting his arms around her and resting his chin on top of her head. She pulled out one of the earbuds and held it up as an offer and an unspoken suggestion he sing with her, and he took it from her after a moment as the chorus ended. She burrowed into him and he tightened his hold on her as the next verse started.

“I woke up with sun,” they both sang, their voices dueting perfectly for the verse. “Thought of all of the people, places and things I've loved. I woke up just to see. With all of the faces you were the one next to me.”

She paused to catch her breath and missed the start of the next part, and once again he didn't sing either. They simply settled into listening to the rest of the song instead, each lost in their own thoughts. When it was over Sherlock took the earbud out and handed it back to Molly, and she did the same with hers. “It isn't the best combination, admittedly, but anything that incorporates violins tends to get a few extra listens,” he said.

“I actually thought it was quite lovely,” she said.

“Then I'll share it with you later,” he said. He absently ran a hand over her abdomen, occasionally pulling the dressing gown up higher before letting it fall back on a down stroke. “I'm surprised you left the bed.”

“Nervous energy,” she said. “That and I remembered the person at the desk said we'd get a brilliant view of the sunrise over the hills. I wanted to see it. I mean, it's not as though I travel all the time. I may never be in Italy again. Today may have been the only time I got to do this.”

“Perhaps tomorrow morning I'll watch it with you,” he said quietly. She didn't reply right away. He was confident that they would both make it through the evening without serious injury or worse. This was good. But she didn't share his confidence, no matter how much she wanted to; in the back of her head was worry, a niggling doubt that Moriarty would win this epic game in the end. He must have sensed this because he kissed the top of her head. “I won't let him hurt either of us, Molly.”

“I know you'll try,” she said. “And I know you'll try very hard. But he's a sneaky bastard.”

“I know he is. And I'm prepared this time. He won't trick us again.”

She pulled away from his embrace and looked at him, curiosity gleaming in her eyes. “How can you be so sure?”

“I have an ace up my sleeve, so to speak. We won't be going into this alone.”

“Oh?” she asked.

He nodded. “Two men I trust very much are here, or will be here shortly, if they didn't arrive last night. John and Lestrade are just as involved in this, because of their association with me. They wanted to be here at the end of it, and their particular sets of skills will come in handy.”

She relaxed at the news. She expected Moriarty to be shady and Sherlock had anticipated this too, and the fact that it was John and Lestrade who would be there calmed her more than she could have hoped. Even though she was still worried it was lessened now. “That's good. That makes me feel better.”

“It makes me feel better as well,” he said. He reached over for her and pulled her close again. “I think we should go back to bed while we still can. It will be a bit before anything opens so we can get something to eat for breakfast.”

She nodded, sliding her arms around him and holding him close. Maybe, just maybe, they really would make it through this all in one piece. She could hope for that now and worry less, and that was a very good thing. After a few minutes she let go of him and he took her free hand, leading her back to bed. He paused long enough for her to set the iPod on the nightstand before he sat down on the bed and pulled her close. She gave him a smile and kissed him, starting softly and then with more urgency, which he noted by undoing the sash on her dressing gown and sliding his hands along her exposed skin. For the moment they would lose themselves in each other and the world would be all right, and that was how it should be.


End file.
